CASA and the ATSB — both regulators who pick up the pieces after air crashes — were in a dogfight ten years ago. The new director of aviation safety says there is no reason for antagonism between their complementary roles.

The relationship between the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has at times been headed for collision. A slow, iterative building of trust has resulted in new clearly spelled-out boundaries, as the two agencies renewed their vows last week with a new and improved memorandum of understanding.

“The MoU clarifies and confirms the different, but complementary roles and functions of the two agencies,” Skidmore told The Mandarin. “The difference between the agencies’ responsibilities are sometimes characterised as antagonistic. They are not.”

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